John Bruce Glasier: What Labour Can Learn From Him
By Will Barber Taylor
The death of John Bruce Glasier on the Fourth of June 1920 occurred nearly a hundred years ago. Glasier was one of the Labour Party’s most important early members and yet his contribution to the party and the history of socialism is often ignored, partly because of his early death. Unlike his contemporary and colleague, Ramsay MacDonald, Glasier would not be remembered as Labour’s first Prime Minister. His early death did also, perhaps, save him from the ignominy of the fate that befell MacDonald.
As the Labour Party is remoulded by its new leader Keir Starmer, it is worth looking back on the roots of the Labour Party and the lives of those who influenced its creation. We cannot recreate the past, that much is certain, however, understanding where the Labour Party and its traditions come from can allow us an insight into how we should proceed. Glasier’s life is an example of this.
His political career saw him going from being a supporter of William Morris’ then anti-Parliamentary Social Democratic Federation to standing as a candidate for Parliament in 1906. Glasier, though idealistic and artistic was pragmatic — though his beliefs shifted his main concern was always improving the position of the working people of Britain and ensuring that they could govern themselves.
Glasier, as many people are today, was infuriated by the way in which landlords treated their tenants and like many Labour activists today had suffered at the hands of a system that can be detrimental to ordinary people. Seeing the way in which his mother was treated after the death of his father and how she was forced to leave the land she loved because of prejudice and debt was at the heart of Glasier’s political education. As he said himself, he was a socialist because of his mother.
For Glasier, the Labour Party was not a vehicle for talking about change, it was one for enacting it. It is for this reason that though he was not an MP he was key in bridging the gap between Keir Hardie, who had spearheaded the movement and Ramsay MacDonald who was its future. The modern Labour Party and the modern Trade Union Movement must work towards this ideal being at the heart of our future. For if we became concentrated on ideological tittle tattle and bickering and concern ourselves more with how many RTs we get, we ignore our very purpose — to serve those who do not have a voice of their own.
Glasier’s life was not just dedicated to politics. He was an accomplished poet and understood the prophetic power of art on the human soul. The ability to express our hopes and dreams through artistic experiences allows us to create a common culture that binds communities together. The idea that art is remote from working class people, that it should only be a bastion of the elite can and should be discredited. Glasier never believed in such ideas — he encouraged creativity during his editorship of the Labour Leader and revelled in the burgeoning working class artistic community in Glasgow because he understood that the democratisation of culture is almost as important as a re distributive economy for creating social cohesion.
Many of the areas that Labour lost due to the general election felt disconnected from a party that many inhabitants had a deep history with. The Labour Party was created to represent communities like Bolton, Bolsover, Sedgefield and Grimsby. The fact that the people that lived there did not feel that Labour was for them is worrying and shaming. By examining the lives of the Labour leaders of the past we can learn from them and ensure that the 12th of December 2019 is never repeated. Not simply for ourselves but for the people we strive to serve.
